It started in the summer of 2020 during a cursory scroll on 247 Sports’ recruiting rankings for the class of 2020. After browsing the top fifty classes and clicking the ‘load more’ link, one name stood out amongst a crowd of Big East, Big Ten and SEC schools: Kennesaw State.
Somewhat baffled, I explored their 66th ranked recruiting class led by three-star high school guards Chris Youngblood, Brandon Stroud and Kasen Jennings and junior college transfer Spencer Rodgers, a strong recruiting class that somehow was borne from Kennesaw’s State 0-16 Atlantic Sun conference record in Amir Abdur-Rahim’s first season replacing veteran coach Al Skinner’s 6-26 record the year prior.
Staying in state, Youngblood and Stroud were signed out of East Coweta High in Sharpsburg and Jennings played at the Heritage School in Newnan. Rodgers played his high school ball at Mountain View, making the homegrown quarter all playing within an hour drive from Kennesaw State.
Their first season together yielded a 5-19 overall record while the next season finished with a promising 7-9 slate during conference play and a first round victory over Eastern Kentucky in the ASUN conference tournament.
This season’s 15-6 record and 7-1 start in conference play makes their 2019-20 season seem like a distant memory and the 2020 recruiting class is a major contributor to the program’s transformation: Youngblood, Stroud, Jennings and Rodgers all average at least twenty four minutes per game and have started a combined 61 games.
The quartet also exemplifies the style of play that has driven the team’s success: moving the ball well to find high percentage shots and an aggressive defense predicated in causing turnovers.
Chris Youngblood, the pearl of the class, has started nearly every game of his career and amassed 1000 career points at the conclusion of Thursday’s matchup against Stetson, a feat achieved in just 74 career games.
Currently sharing the conference lead with ASUN stalwarts Liberty, the two squads matchup for a huge conference showdown, their first, on Thursday, February 16th.
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